Quick Facts

Dickinson is a premier four-year residential liberal-arts institution chartered in 1783 and widely recognized as a leader in global and sustainability education. We prepare our graduates to face the world’s challenges so they are always equipped and eager to collaborate with others to make an impact.

Degrees Granted

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science

Campus, Facilities and Services

Our 144-acre campus includes five LEED-gold certified buildings (with a commitment to pursuing LEED certification for all new projects), traditional and special-interest housing options and new state-of-the-art science, athletics and research facilities. Dining options include gluten-free, kosher, organic, vegan, vegetarian and local fruits and vegetables from our certified-organic College Farm. Dickinson is located in Carlisle, named a “most livable city” by Forbes and minutes from the state capital of Harrisburg. The campus is connected to a vibrant downtown that offers eclectic dining, shopping and entertainment options.

Enrollment

2,325 full-time students representing 39 states and territories and 44 foreign countries; 21 percent domestic students of color and 13 percent international. See Class Profile for additional details.

Student-Faculty Ratio

Average Class Size

Extracurriculars

More than 100 student-run clubs and activities, including music and drama, publications, fraternities and sororities and religious, political, special-interest and community-service organizations.

Athletics

Member of the Centennial Conference (NCAA Division III) with 25 varsity sports, plus club and intramural sports. To date, 212 student-athletes have been named All-American.

Sustainability

Dickinson is recognized as a leader among educational institutions committed to sustainability and green initiatives. The Center for Sustainability Education provides assistance as Dickinson integrates sustainability into its academics, facilities, operations and campus culture. Dickinson has received recognition for exemplary work from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Sierra Club, Sustainable Endowments Institute, Princeton Review and Second Nature.

Global Education

Dickinson offers one of the most respected off-campus study programs, and more than half of the students study in 39 programs in 24 countries on six continents. Dickinson also is one of the nation's top institutions for foreign-language study, with 13 languages offered.

Admission

Applicants are expected to have pursued a college-preparatory course of study, including substantial sequences in math, foreign languages and science. Interviews and campus visits are strongly recommended.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Tuition for 2016-17 is $50,730. Room and board is $12,794 and a $450 student-activities fee also is required. Dickinson awarded more than $45 million in grants in the 2015-16 academic year, and 69 percent of students received merit or need-based aid.

Awards

Dickinson is a leading producer of Fulbright and Peace Corps scholars. Awards for postgraduate study include Fulbright, George J. Mitchell, Rotary Ambassadorial, Kathryn Wasserman Davis Projects for Peace, the Carnegie Junior Fellowship, Udall and Goldwater.

Postgraduate Plans

93 percent of Dickinsonians are employed, involved in volunteer service or excepted into a graduate program one year after graduation (data from 2017 survey). Graduate school acceptance rates are strong: 97 percent for law school and 75 percent (of those recommended) for medical school within all health professions.

Partnerships

Sharing its Carlisle location with other educational institutions, Dickinson has partnerships with the U.S. Army War College and Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute and the world-renowned Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. In addition, top business, law, engineering and medical schools offer programs to accelerate admission for Dickinson graduates or give graduates credit for undergraduate courses. Agreements are in place with internationally renowned institutions such as Columbia University and Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Prominent Alumni

A U.S. president, Supreme Court justices, a co-founder of America’s oldest weekly magazine (The Nation) founded by abolitionists in 1865, second secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, retired chairman and CEO of Wyeth, first editor of USA Today and chairman and CEO of Gannett Co. Inc., CEO of L.L. Bean, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, agents for professional athletes, Tony and Jeff award winners, Lemelson-MIT Prize and 2013 Linus Pauling Medal Award winner, several U.S. representatives and other elected officials, award-winning poets, novelists and photographers, editor of The New York Times’ Room for Debate, founder and CEO of one of the fastest-growing natural product companies (Justin’s), three elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, member of Time magazine’s 2006 list of 100 most influential people, president and CEO of GeneOne Life Science, three inductees into the inaugural class of the U.S. Army ROTC Hall of Fame and several college presidents.